


Assassin

by TheAzureFox



Series: Fate/VRAINS [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Fate/series AU, Gen, and smoking, specifically cigarettes, warning for drug usage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 16:43:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12136725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: File 1:Shoichi Kusanagi. Codename: Daddy Long Legs. Former mercenary.Also, the Master of Assassin.(Fate/series AU)





	Assassin

**Author's Note:**

> If any of you are familiar with the Fate/series, then this fanfic will most likely not confuse you. However, for those who are unaware of the franchise I miiight have to explain a little bit. I'm borrowing the series' tendency to start viewers off directly into the story without reasonable explanation so I guess I'll just do a little bit of it here.
> 
> For one, the series revolves around twelve people fighting for what is essentially known as the "Holy Grail". This is not exactly the same Holy Grail from legends but, rather, a similarly-named object of divinity that grants the wish of the two winners of a battle known as the "Holy Grail War". The twelve people chosen are split into two groups: Masters and Servants. 
> 
> "Masters" are humans of the current day and age who have the ability to command the "Servants" that they are given by the Grail itself. 
> 
> "Servants" are the heroes of old (think: King Arthur, Siegfried, Robin Hood, Gilgamesh...Jack the Ripper...) who are brought back into the real world through their vessels, the Masters who call upon them. 
> 
> Masters and Servants work in pairs in the Holy Grail War. Each Master has a Servant and each Servant has a Master. All twelve participating members have a wish that they want to fulfill and thus a reason that allows them the ambition to fight for the Holy Grail itself. However, only one Master-Servant pair can have their wish granted and it can only be done when the ten other competitors are all dead and sacrificed to the Grail itself. Therefore, the Holy Grail War is basically one big giant battle to the death with only two survivors allowed to remain alive at the very end.
> 
> :'D

Shoichi Kusanagi has a habit of smoking.

Puffs of gray smoke curl upwards from a white cigarette butt, silver ashes tinged red as he contemplates the stone wall in front of him. He pulls away the item, breathes out a cloud of dust, and then takes to sipping from the tip yet again.

“That’s disgusting.”

The man doesn’t bother trying to disguise his laugh as he faces the boy across from him. Yusaku Fujiki crosses his arms, nose wrinkled in distaste. He tries to blow away the cigarette smoke in vain, puckering his lips to push out air and watching as the cloud focuses back in. Forced to breathe in the toxins, the 16-year old boy fixates upon Shoichi with a glare.

“What’s the problem with a little drag now and then?” he asks his partner.

“Honestly? Those things can kill you.”

Another laugh – a chuckle that sounds up from a throat scratched with poison. “And why should you worry? I’m going to die anyway.”

“Not if I can help it, Master,” Yusaku watches as Shoichi inhales another puff from his cigarette and he forcibly wretches the item out of the man’s hand. He lets it fall to the floor and stomps it out with a rather relived sigh.

“How rude,” the man rustles in the pockets of his black trench coat for his lighter and another cigarette but is stopped by Yusaku’s hand.

“Please,” the boy says, “don’t. If you smoke another one of those things I’ll personally kill you myself.”

He holds up empty hands and his Servant relaxes. “Alright, alright. There, happy?”

“Not quite.”

There’s an arching of an eyebrow and then Shoichi tilts his head to the city that opens up before him. “Another Master?” he inquires.

Yusaku manifests a knife in his hands. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure? How can you _not_ be sure?”

“It’s like…it’s like someone is sending out magic to cover up their identity but…I can’t tell who it’s coming from. There are too many people.”

Shoichi feels the itch to light another cigarette but restrains himself as he notices something particular. Past the alleyway where they are hiding, tucked onto a bench in the midst of Den City’s raging heat wave, is a doll in all black. It is a human-looking creature, a deceiving toy whose mimicry of an attention-grabbing and rather suspicious woman is near perfect. A pleasant smile graces what little of her face Shoichi can see; a daring glimmer in her eyes invites his gaze forward.

“There, that woman,” he nudges his Servant. “She must be a homunculus.”

“A doll?” Yusaku wrinkles his nose again and Shoichi finds such an action rather endearing. “I thought those things were forbidden to exist – black magic and all that.”

“Not in this day and age. The Mage’s Association is strangely fond of artificial life forms, you see. It’s almost a running gag that the current leader is seeking to mass-produce them to create the perfect child.”

The Servant eyes the woman and frowns. He closes his eyes and then opens them again, his appearance changing in a second’s moment of time. Blue hair slides into gold and amber. A black school uniform fades to reveal a skin-tight wetsuit of green and black and glowing golden lines. When the transformation wears off, Yusaku’s gaze changes from thoughtful and relaxed to one of bloodlust and irritation.

“Ah, are you really going to go after her now, Assassin? If you’re seen killing someone, I’ll be in big trouble, you know.”

“The Assassin class prides itself on stealth,” Yusaku tells him, scowling as Shoichi pretends to look surprised. “We know better than to provoke an incident.”

“Yes, but, are you sure it’s worth it? Attacking a homunculus might also earn you the ire of the other Master who is under the Mage’s Association. And, trust me when I say Akira Zaizen will not be pleased to learn of such things.”

“Who cares?” the Servant snaps. “It could be stalling, wasting our time while setting up an ambush! The quicker we get rid of it the less we have to worry. That thing’s an eyesore.”

Shoichi holds out his hand and gestures Yusaku’s gaze to the three red marks that lie dormant on his skin. “Don’t make me use a Command Seal, Yusaku.”

The Servant backs off, his knives disappearing with a “Tch!”. Assassin looks at him, furrowing his eyebrows in annoyance.

“We need to take this calmly,” Shoichi says. “That doll might not know we’re here. At the very least, if it does, it’s being stupid. To reveal itself to us in plain sight – not to mention it putting up a magical barrier to tell of its presence – means that it _must_ know what it’s doing.”

“What should we do then, oh wise one?”

“Approach it.”

There’s a pause from Yusaku.

“Are you fucking with me?”

Shoichi’s reply is completely nonchalant: “Well, what do you think?”

“ _Tch_ …If you get us killed it’s all on you.”

The man walks out of the alleyway, sunlight glistening down upon him and his sunglasses. Yusaku follows close behind, pressing to his side with a scowl and sulking shoulders.

“Well, that’s what Assassin is meant to prevent, right?”

“Our class doesn’t escort people to their death,” the boy hisses. “We kill their targets, yes, but we don’t let out own clients sabotage _our_ payments.”

“Right, right. I know, I know. Can’t let my guard down then, can I?”

“ _You better not_.”

The boy gives him a death glare and Shoichi merely grants him a smile. There’s a huff from his companion and then they greet the homunculus with a reasonable amount of distance between them.

“Ah, you came,” she says to them, lifting her head up so they can see her face. Black hollow eyes greet their gazes, wrinkled skin pushing around the edges of her face to create a look akin to the literal mask of an old woman’s face. “Welcome, Assassin and his Master.”

Yusaku stiffens but does not move, glaring at the creature before them with evident disgust.

“Who sent you?” Shoichi asks it.

She tilts her head and makes a sound that does not bode well with either of them. It sounds like laughing but it is so disjointed and dissonant that it’s more like the warbling of some monster than it is the chuckle of an old lady.

“I am an emissary from the Mage’s Association. I am to keep track of who is alive and who is not. And, as I am now aware, it seems the Master of Assassin still lives.”

“Has anyone died yet?” Shoichi inquires. “Or did the Mage’s Association just want to stick a tracker on me for the profit of their other Master?”

Her lips pucker in distaste. “You accuse us of cheating?”

“The other Master is known for his work in business and security. He is not exactly a competent Master. Unlike that of Dr. Kogami or Sebastian Yamamoto, Akira Zaizen is new to the world of magic. He may be a Zaizen but he is not as formidable as his ancestors. I wouldn’t put it past you all to give him the proper assistance he’s lacking. Also, don’t think I haven’t noticed the familiars scattered about either.”

Shoichi gestures to the sky where a silver crow hovers overhead, circling their heads with unnatural green eyes. His Servant follows his gaze, curling his lips at the creature. The boy’s eyes quickly pinpoint the black squirrel that sits at the woman’s feet and the golden tabby that licks its lips in their direction.

“Ah, I figured you might have. We use those familiars to give reports about other Masters. But,” she continues as Shoichi’s eyes narrow, “rest assured, we do not give other Master’s information out to the other participants. Only we and Ruler may know those sorts of things.”

A slight inhale of air. “There’s a Ruler this Grail War?” There’s a slight raise of an eyebrow. “I thought the Head of the Church was going to be the supervisor of for this year’s battle and not a _Servant_.”

“Were you not made aware? We sent out an announcement days ago about this.”

Yusaku narrows his eyes, hands twitching for a knife. Shoichi holds a hand up and Assassin hisses, quieting down but no doubt burning holes into the back of Shoichi’s brown trench coat.

“I did not receive this message. Perhaps you should check with your supervisor about such a thing. Surely they’d have noticed if a Master or outsider was tampering with the Grail War.”

The woman cranes her head in distant interest. “I’ll make sure to report it.”

“I’m glad. Now, before I leave, is there anything of importance you have to give to me?”

“Hm?”

“Surely there’s a reason why you’ve come. The Mage’s Association doesn’t send out it’s dolls without some sort of reasoning.”

The wrinkles around her lips wrinkle in delight. “Such a sharp Master you are. Very smart, very cunning. I like that about you,” her hollow black eyes fixate upon the man. “You are very right, Assassin’s Master. I _do_ have something important to say to you.”

“Well? What is it?”

She hums.

“The Mage’s Association has found your brother.”

~~~~

When Shoichi Kusanagi decides to become a Master and participate in the Grail War, it isn’t necessarily on his own terms.

For years, the man has prided himself on the ways of magic. Ever since he was a kid, the various magic spells and illusionary tricks that haunted the world of Mages had become his fascination. He’d been born in a family of Mages, one of the more lesser-known branches and not the ones up in the tree like the Kogamis and the Zaizens. Still, that hadn’t kept him from practicing day after day, focusing on the spells he knew and the teachings his academy gave out in order to become the best.

His brother – Rei Kusanagi - was an avid fan of Shoichi’s works, an admirer whose chance to practice magic was taken the moment their father declared Shoichi the sole inheritor of the family practices. The secrets of a mage family’s lineage could only be passed onto one child – the other, however, would be granted nothing but a life of the mundane. Still, that did not in any way deter Rei from worshipping and supporting his brother. And, for him, Shoichi worked hard. Despite his father’s harsh criticisms and his mother’s insistence on isolating himself from the “lesser child”, Shoichi did his best to spend time with his brother. They were almost inseparable, honestly, and, if not _that day_ five years back Shoichi was sure he would’ve spent the rest of his life peacefully alongside his brother.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and, for Shoichi, all the good things in his life disappeared forever. His love for magic vanished the moment his brother became lost to the world, an existence both present and yet non-existent.

It had been a rainy day, ordinary, common, but rainy, and, yet, it had torn Shoichi’s life apart forever.

His brother and him had been attending a festival, hands intertwined so as to keep themselves from losing each other. And, even if they did, they had a secret meet-up place to rendezvous if they ever got lost. And, inevitably, Rei _did_ get lost, separated from Shoichi by his innate sense of curiosity and the pushing of the people all around them. Shoichi went to their safe-spot – the base of an old clock tower – and, naturally, he waited.

He waited a long time.

The morning sun had crossed the sky into the afternoon by the time Shoichi realized his brother wasn’t coming back. He’d crafted up several different familiars and sent scouts looking for his brother but, to no avail.

Rei Kusanagi was nowhere to be found.

From then on, Shoichi began searching. He searched and searched and _searched_ but he could not find the brother he had hoped to see yet again. Angry and frustrated and riddled with guilt for having lost sight of his brother just once and having lost him forever, Shoichi was met with a messenger.

At his doorstep, a cuckoo bird greeted him. A gray thing, it held a message in its talons which was imparted upon the man as quickly as it could. It was a small piece of parchment, a tiny letter whose meaning held clear:

_We may know how to find your brother._

He eyes the familiar. “How?”

The words on the letter shifted, appearing character by character as if someone is writing them in real time.

_Come to the Mage’s Association Building in the center plaza of Den City. We will help you._

He hesitates at the message because the temptation is all too real. On one hand, it’s an obvious trap. Shoichi’s garnered many associates in his time of searching and none of them guarantee their help without an asking price. There was a catch present in there almost certainly – no one in their right minds would ask to find someone’s brother out of the goodness of their hearts. Still, Shoichi has no other option. This is the first lead in _months_. Regardless of whether or not it’s a trap, he needs to go. His brother’s existence must always come before his own.

Five weeks before the present, Shoichi goes to the giant spiral tower that sits in the center plaza of Den City. There, he is welcomed in by a pudgy boy.

“I’m guessin’ your Shoichi Kusanagi?” the boy says, eyeing his figure with a huff. “My teacher’s been waiting for you.”

“Your teacher?”

He waves a hand. “Yeah, her. She seems to want to meet you badly.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, yeah, can’t say why. You don’t look very skilled as a mage but she seems to swear up and down that you are. Somethin’ about a Daddy-Long-Legs, I think?”

“I haven’t heard that name in years,” he chuckles.

“Does it mean anything?”

“Daddy Long Legs was once the most skilled assassin across the entire island of Japan. You could say I know him.”

“You?” there’s a haughty laugh from the kid. “You look like some random hobo they dragged off the street.”

Shoichi chuckles at such a comment. “You got a name, kid?”

“Naoki Shima. Mage-in-training.”

“In training?”

“Yep. Haven’t mastered the big stuff yet but one day, maybe, I will.”

“Ah, really?” Shoichi holds up a finger and swirls it in the air. Pink magic drips off it, forming runes in the air that create a pattern. Magenta sparks of light fly off in all directions, buzzing like flies as they disappear into the abyss of the Mage’s Association.

Naoki crosses his arms, looking away with a haughty huff. “I’m working on it! Gotta start on the small things first though. My magic tends to go off the rails a lot so my teacher has to watch me whenever I perform magic.”

“Ah. Alright.” He tilts his head to the left and right, eyes searching around. Despite finding nothing with his gaze, he sighs and lets his shoulders slump in defeat.

Naoki guides him through a mess of hallways and corridors, bumbling past countless figures in suits and hooded robes. Shoichi’s almost surprised to see such elegant yet shady people in the midst of an organization built upon “honor” and “prestige”. However, he can’t say he’s at all astounded that the Mage’s Association would stoop to such levels when they are bringing a former assassin into the heart of their higher-ups.

When, at last, they reach their destination, Naoki wishes him well at the entrance to an office and then makes his farewell known. He leaves Shoichi alone with a large golden door and, against the wish of his skin under the cold needles of ancient magic, Shoichi enters.

An exquisite woman with a black veil over her face appears before him, curtsying as he appears before her. A red rose pins ebony hair to the back of her head, oil strands draping down from her forehead and over her shoulder. Her skin is pale, almost eccentrically so, but Shoichi takes little heed of it as she offers him her hand. The man takes it, pressing gentle lips to the white of her glove and she chuckles at the action.

“My, you’re well-trained. Hardly any common mage knows common courtesy nowadays.”

“But, I’m not common, am I?”

“No, perhaps not. I’ve heard of your reputation and, as it is, you intrigue me.”

“I’m flattered.”

Her rose red lips smile behind the veil. “I trust you know who I am?”

Shoichi gives a bow. “Everyone knows you’re name. I just didn’t expect to see you here in person, Lady Queen. I thought you had sided yourself with the church, not the Mage’s Association.”

“Oh, a little of both,” she holds out a hand and a pink spark dances on her fingertips. “I see you sent spies throughout my abode, Daddy Long Legs.”

“And I see that you had destroyed them all. It’s a wonder you haven’t stuck any guards on me.”

“If I wanted to kill you I would have, Shoichi,” her voice tiptoes from soft and sweet to calm and ready to maim at an instant’s notice. She smiles, tilting her head to the side with pursed lips. “Regardless, I believe you know why I have invited you?”

“You’ve found my brother?”

“Not quite.”

He frowns at that. “Not…quite?”

A nonchalant lilt in her voice. “You see, we’ve found some rather…interesting traces of Rei Kusanagi’s whereabouts.”

His hands tighten into fists. “So, you haven’t found him then.”

“There may be a way for you to meet him, though.”

His gaze draws to hers and Queen offers him a polite smile. “The last known trace of your brother was in the Church. Or, more precisely, he was found right beside the Holy Grail.”

The name strikes a match with him. “You mean the holy relic of the legends? The one that can grant any wish it’s user asks of it?”

A laugh. “I see you’ve been informed. Yes, you are correct.”

“And why was my brother there?”

She waves a hand and a mirage forms before him. In the illusion, he sees six items – six artifacts aged by the flow of time. He sees a heart-shaped ear-ring with wings, a set of knives marked with pink feathers, a mask made of glass, a golden skull-like charm, and two other items that are too blurred to see anything. The image fades and he frowns, looking over to Queen with questions in his eyes.

“I know what you want to ask. Those items are the chosen relics for the Grail War – the ones that we will give to all participating Masters. They are used to summon the Servants who fight in the Holy Grail War and, likely, your brother wanted after them. Hours after he was last seen in the Church one of the artifacts went missing. We suspect he had something to do with it and may be participating in this upcoming battle.”

“ _Rei would never-!_ ”

She holds up a hand and his throat constricts, forcing him cough out the words he would have spoke. She waits a moment for any further protest and, after seeing that he will remain silent, Queen releases her silencing spell.

“I understand that you don’t see your brother as a thief. However, the fact remains: Rei went into the Church and disappeared on the same day an artifact meant for the Holy Grail vanished. You very well can’t deny the facts, Shoichi Kusanagi. Your brother is involved in this war and, if you want any chance of finding him, you’ll need to do as we say. Understand?”

He looks to the side, glaring at the floor and tensing his shoulders. Queen observes him with a devilish twitch of her lips, amused but willing to let him come to the conclusion she knows is inevitable.

Shoichi looks at her, relaxing as he says: “Alright, I’ll take your offer.”

A smile.

“Excellent. Well then, you have four weeks to prepare.”

“Four weeks to prepare for what?”

Dark brown, almost black, eyes glitter at him from underneath the veil.

“To prepare for becoming a Master.”

~~~

“Ten drops of blood.”

Shoichi holds a knife to his hand, wincing as the tip slices through flesh. Red blooms on the surface of his palm, creating a small pool that leaks drops as he holds his hand over the chalk-made magical circle.

One drop.

Queen watches him her hands placed in front of her, her veil shrouding her expression from view.

Two drops.

Shoichi watches as the circle glows dimly with white light.

Three drops.

His gaze switches to the set of knives in the center adorned with pink feathers.

Four drops.

The circle grows brighter.

Five drops.

Queen taps her chin in musing, watching his every move.

Six drops.

The knives begin to glow, reflecting Kusanagi’s frustrated face in its polished silver mirror.

Seven drops.

He’s aching not to heal the wound, to close it up because it feels unnatural to let his own blood run down his fingers freely.

Eight drops.

The circle glows brighter, brighter, glowing with the magical essence of the red water he is feeding it.

Nine Drops.

Chalk turns into light and it swallows everything inside the circle whole.

Ten.

When the light vanishes, a boy appears kneeling where a pair of knives had once been. He is wearing a black and green wetsuit edged with golden lines, hair a strange combination of spiky orange, yellow, and pink. Blue particles briefly emanate off his figure and then disappear as he sits before them.

“Congratulations,” Queen says to him and Shoichi watches as three red marks become scrawled on the back of his hand, “you have now become an official Master of the Holy Grail War.”

The boy before them opens up jade green eyes and the Servant turns his eyes to Shoichi. He stands, gaze sharp and scrutinizing.

“You are to be my Master?” he asks. “You’re…not who I would’ve expected.”

Queen claps her hands and the boy turns to her. “Play nice with him now, Assassin. If you want your wish granted you’ll need to work alongside this man. Believe it or not, he’s your perfect match out of all six Grail War candidates.”

“ _Him_?”

“He’s a very skilled assassin, much like you yourself.”

Assassin’s face turns to near exasperation. “I can tell that much. Your point?”

“I suppose there isn’t one,” Queen turns to Shoichi. “You should ask for your Servant’s name. Knowing which servant you’ve called up will aide you tremendously in the up-coming fight.”

Shoichi frowns and looks at the boy in front of him. “And you are?”

He sweeps an arm out in front of his chest and bows before the man. “I am Playmaker, Hero of the People of A.I.”

The man rubs his chin, inspecting the boy. He circles Playmaker, frowning as the boy’s jade gaze lingers with confusion.

“I thought Playmaker was a lot older. You seem pretty young for a hero of legends.”

Playmaker raises an eyebrow. “And?”

“Well, I thought Playmaker was always someone more…manly. The type to get the girl and all that. You just seem like a hero wannabe not some Heroic Spirit of the older days.”

Queen snickers and Playmaker gives Shoichi a mildly-offended look.

“I’ve saved hundreds of lives,” the boy says. “I’m more than qualified to be a Heroic Spirit.”

He pats the boy’s shoulder. “Are you sure? It seems almost impossible for someone of your stature, honestly.”

A pause. A breath. Playmaker is quick, summoning two knives to his hands and pressing their blades to Shoichi’s throat. Sweat beads up on his neck, a feeling he has not felt in _years_ since he took up assassination. The man tilts his head in Playmaker’s direction, minding the silver metal placed against his skin as he does so.

Jade eyes watch him and then the knives disappear. The boy retracts his arms and smiles with a sigh. “It seems that you were testing me,” his gaze drops down to the dagger Shoichi has extracted into his palm and holds up three fingers as if to reassure himself:

“#1: You had a knife in your hands before I manifested mine which means you knew I was about to attack.

“#2: Your arm twitched to protect yourself but you did not act upon that, keeping your arm to your side. You were baiting me forward within that split second.

“#3: The fact that you allowed me to move without resistance means you wanted to observe me in action. Normal people would flinch at such an idea or at least hesitate. However, you correctly assumed that I was testing you and, vice versa, you tested me as a result.”

There’s a look of disbelief and then, Shoichi grins, reaching up a hand to rustle the boy’s hair. Playmaker stiffens, eyes wide and staring at nothing before they slide up to meet with his. There’s almost a kind of startled surprise in his eyes, an open mouth of astonishment before Playmaker allows himself to meet Shoichi’s gaze.

“You’re pretty sharp, kid,” he laughs. “I guess I shouldn’t underestimate you after all.”

There’s a cough and they turn to face Queen. She claps her hands together, red lips pressed up into a smile. “I see you’re already bonding as Master and Servant. Very good, such a bond will be formidable in the Grail War. It will do you all well. Regardless, I believe we have one day left before the official thing starts. The last Master has yet to summon his Servant and, as a result, things will be delayed.”

Queen holds out a hand and several cream file folders appear in between her fingers.

“In the meanwhile, we have provided you the basic files on the all the other Masters at your leisure. Keep in mind that others will have these and your own information too so that every one is on equal grounds.”

Shoichi takes them, peering briefly through each one before nodding and turning to Queen. “I think I can handle things from here.”

“I’m glad,” the woman steps beside him, a delicate smile apparent with a shadow on the corner of her eyes. “You’ll be my champion in this war and, in return, I will do everything in my power to get you your brother back. Take care until then, alright? Everything will work out fine in the end, I promise.”

A smile.

“That it will.”

~~~

“You live in a hotdog truck?”

The first words that Playmaker says to him are only words of the highest of scrutiny.

“It’s my base of operations, thank you very much.”

The boy huffs at such a statement, picking through packages of hotdog buns and sniffing through the refrigerator with eager eyes.

“Are you hungry?” he asks. “I thought Servants didn’t eat food.”

“That’s what I’ve been told too,” Playmaker lets the fridge door close and then wanders around. After a few seconds, his stomach grumbles in protest. “…Apparently, that’s not the case.”

“Here,” Shoichi grabs some ingredients, “I’ll cook something then. In the meantime, you should probably change your appearance.”

Playmaker offers up an offended look. “Why?”

“Because you’re going to stand out and get us killed. You don’t look like an everyday person – you look like some wannabe cosplayer, honestly, and you’re going to attract the other Masters to us.”

There’s a pause in which the boy muses over his words. “Fair enough, I suppose. Your day and age does not support the attire that I wear now, after all.”

He holds out a hand and Shoichi watches in amazement as his wetsuit curls off like paint, flaking off his skin and being replaced by a layer of black and white. A jacket sits on his arms and reveals his stomach where a white shirt unfolds. A light blue tie drips down from his neck while black pants curl onto the legs. Golden and amber spiked hair settles down into dark blue and pink. Playmaker glances at himself in a mirror, frowns, and then waves a finger to add a streak of pink to his hair.

Once Playmaker is done, he turns his gaze to Shoichi. “I need a name.”

The man blinks. “A code name, I’m guessing?”

“Right.”

“How about Yusaku Fujiki, then?”

“Ah.” There’s a wry smile on Playmaker’s face. “And then it’d be rather obvious who I am, right?”

“Not necessarily. More people remember _Playmaker_ as a Heroic Spirit than they do the boy known as _Yusaku Fujiki_. I’d say it’s a safe bet – especially in a day and age where naming your child after a Heroic Spirit’s true name isn’t at all surprising.”

Assassin nods along. “Fine, I can agree with that. You may call me by that name, then. It’s been a long time since I’ve last heard of it.”

“Good to work with you, Yusaku,” he extends a hand.

Yusaku Fujiki shakes it. “You too, Master.”

**Author's Note:**

> *Rei translates to law or strive. I feel like, in an ironic sense of fate, Shoichi’s brother would have been more law-oriented in canon and less approving of his brother’s interest in hacking before the accident occurred.
> 
> This will most likely be a mini-series showcasing each Master and Servant along with the events that occur along the way since I reeeeaaallly don't want to make this into one gigantic story. Also, even though I didn't mention this in the beginning, Ruler is a class that is Masterless. Ruler is a special Servant (as according to Fate/Apocrypha) that is meant to preside over the Holy Grail War and make sure no foul play is to occur. Normally, the Church oversees such battles but in cases where the Grail feels like it has to keep the war regulated, it will send in Ruler to oversee the battle. 
> 
> As for who Ruler is in this series, they remain to be seen. It's someone who is meant to be unbiased in such a fight but perhaps are they biased after all...?


End file.
